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PCB007-July2018

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46 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2018
In a recent conference call, our I-Connect007
editorial team was joined by Circuit Automa-
tion's Yuki Kojima, VP of engineering; Lar-
ry Lindland, sales and applications manager;
and Tom Meeker, CEO, for a lively discussion
about solder mask. Spoiler: It's not all about
the equipment.
Patty Goldman: Gentlemen, let's start with
some background on Circuit Auto-
mation.
Yuki Kojima: Circuit Auto-
mation has been manu-
facturing double-sided
screen printing sys-
tems for the circuit
board industry since
around 1980. Main-
ly it's been for the
rigid circuit board
industry, but now
we're getting into the
flexible circuit board
industry, too.
Larry Lindland: I've been
with Circuit Automation
since 1995. As Yuki said,
we've been working with sol-
der mask manufacturers all over the
world trying to provide the best application
system out there.
Goldman: Yuki, if you would, please give us an
overview of what you see happening in the
solder mask world. What are the current prob-
lems and where do you see things are going?
Kojima: The requirements and specifications for
solder mask have been diversifying. It's been
just computer boards and consumer products.
But now, with HDI, smartphones, flexi
-
ble circuit boards, communication
panels, there is a wide spec-
trum of different types of
circuit boards out there.
Each has such unique
requirements, and we
have to meet different
demands. For exam
-
ple, I think the big-
gest challenges right
now are the expo-
sure, or I would say
imaging, after photo
masking. Now, many
people are getting
more and more into di
-
rect imaging—laser di-
rect imaging, UV direct im-
aging—and we need to meet
the requirements, which are
basically the mask thickness, even-
ness, and distribution and that sort of thing.
I also do sales and marketing in Asia where
the biggest challenge I see right now is via
Circuit Automation
on the Ever-Evolving World
of Solder Mask
Feature by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team